Delhi’s problem of being covered by smoke started right after the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act in 2009, which delayed the burning of crops till late October, was implemented for the first time.

Until a few years ago, when farmers in Punjab burnt the remnants of the rice crops in their fields in preparation for sowing wheat, the smoke from such fires was confined to Punjab. Back then, farmers burnt the straw in late September and early October. According to a publication of the Indian Council of Social Science Research published in 1991, “At the end of September and in early October, it becomes difficult to travel in the rural areas of Punjab because the air is thick with the smoke of burning paddy straw.” However, in recent years, farmers have delayed the burning until late October.

This delay is crucial and responsible for the smoke being carried all the way to Delhi. An analysis of the wind flow patterns reveals that wind blows into Delhi primarily from the west during the monsoon season, but changes direction in October when it starts blowing into Delhi from the north.

The decision to delay the clearing of the fields was not the choice of farmers, but was forced on them by the Punjab government, which passed the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act in 2009. According to this law, farmers can no longer sow rice in April, but have to wait until the middle of June to do so. Haryana too has copied Punjab and passed a similar law. Rice has a 120-day period between germination and harvest, and the restriction on sowing the grain means that the fields would be harvested and cleared only in October, by which time the direction of the wind would have changed. In what has turned out to be a real world example of the Butterfly Effect, Delhi’s problem of being covered by smoke started right after this law was implemented for the first time. Before this law was passed, the problem in Delhi was limited to vehicular and industrial pollution, apart from smoke from bonfires in winter, and there were no reports of the entire metropolitan area being enveloped by smoke.

This piece of legislation was passed ostensibly to preserve groundwater, the depletion of which was blamed on rice fields, which supposedly not only used too much water, but also lost a significant quantity of water to evaporation, but this argument is a very tenuous one. According to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), water in rice fields contributes to recharging the groundwater and very little of it is lost to evaporation. The data from Uttar Pradesh in IWMI’s analysis shows that rice fields in the state contributed to increasing the level of the water table, thus supporting the claim that water in rice fields replenishes the aquifers.

The group that has been primarily responsible for exerting pressure to move away from growing rice in the name of “crop diversification” is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which operates out of the American embassy. Over a period of several years, it has used the excuse of preventing the decline of groundwater to push this agenda. USAID has a worldwide reputation of behaving like a front group for American multinational corporations such as Monsanto. Former American diplomat Jeanine Jackson recently justified her intervention in favour of Monsanto when she served as the American ambassador to Burkina Faso by claiming that the advocacy of American businesses and investments was the “number one task” for ambassadors.

It should, therefore, come as no surprise that Monsanto will be the primary beneficiary of USAID’s purported solution for Punjab’s problems. According to their solution, farmers need to stop growing rice and replace it with Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) maize.

India’s surplus food grain supply is an uncomfortable fact for Monsanto and other proponents of GMO food, who insist that the world would face a shortage of food grains if not for genetically engineered plants sold by Monsanto. It is in this light that one must view Monsanto’s collusion with the Punjab government and their joint efforts targeting the production of rice in India. In 2012, the then Punjab Chief Minister asked Monsanto to set up a research centre for creating maize seeds and announced plans to reduce the area under the cultivation of rice by around 45% in order to grow maize. Monsanto typically co-opts not only politicians, but also members of the academia and converts them into its shills. Little wonder then that the passage of the law in Punjab was preceded by fear mongering about the cultivation of rice, which reached a feverish pitch a few years back in the form of a campaign advertisement from a group of “eminent scientists” who appealed, “Chonne hetho rakba katao, Pani Bachao, Punjab Bachao (Reduce the area under rice, Save Water, Save Punjab)”.

Monsanto now offers the replacement of rice by its GMO crops as a solution that will increase the level of subsoil water, but the multinational corporation is the cause of the problem. Its fertilizers and pesticides have accumulated in the ground over the years, and this has led to poor retention of moisture in the soil, leading farmers to pump out excessive amounts of underground water. The new law, reducing the time period during which farmers are permitted to grow rice, has further accentuated this problem.

Monsanto now offers the replacement of rice by its GMO crops as a solution that will increase the level of subsoil water, but the multinational corporation is the cause of the problem. Its fertilizers and pesticides have accumulated in the ground over the years, and this has led to poor retention of moisture in the soil, leading farmers to pump out excessive amounts of underground water. The new law, reducing the time period during which farmers are permitted to grow rice, has further accentuated this problem. Farmers had developed their own method of crop diversification by growing multiple varieties of rice and staggering the time of sowing these varieties over a period of two months beginning in April. The loss of the ability of farmers to easily diversify their rice crop, combined with the fact that late sown rice is vulnerable to diseases and pests has created a fear in farmers of losing their crop, leading them to use greater amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, further degrading the soil and its ability to retain water.

Monsanto’s GMO products are known to cause several problems. Its maize is known for killing bees, leading to a shortage of seeds of plants such as onions which depend on bees for pollination. Several European countries have banned its maize as its pollen has been responsible for killing entire colonies of bees. Monsanto’s GMO maize is also not fit for human consumption and is primarily used as chicken feed. Likewise, most of Monsanto’s wheat is used to feed animals because it is unfit for human consumption. Thus the government’s plan to replace the cultivation of rice—which is the staple food for a large section of the population of India—by Monsanto’s chicken feed is a cynical move that will result in government created food shortages in the country.

The problems related to the low levels of groundwater and the inability of the soil to retain moisture must be solved, but the solution should not be a drastic one, such as creating famines by banning food items such as rice. Before the level of groundwater fell in Punjab, the state experienced a problem of water-logging, which was partially solved by pumping out the excess groundwater. Thus, it is clear that an acceptable level of the water table can be maintained by finding a proper balance between the two extreme situations, without replacing any crop.

In 2012, the then Punjab Chief Minister asked Monsanto to set up a research centre for creating maize seeds and announced plans to reduce the area under the cultivation of rice by around 45% in order to grow maize.

Today, farmers burn the residual straw from the cultivation of rice as it is an affordable method of clearing the fields. A ban on such burning will destroy the livelihood of poorer farmers and give way to industrial farming, with a few large corporations such as Monsanto taking over all the land and resources. The government has already helped large corporations through a slew of measures and it must not take any more steps that run the small farmers out of business. Instead, if it wants to prevent burning, it must help small farmers clear the fields between the rice and wheat seasons and help them implement proper water management solutions. This would mean going against the rules set forth by the World Trade Organization, which has mandated that no business other than American multinational corporations can receive aid or subsidies from the government, and any subsidy given to American businesses will be done under the cover of “research grants” funnelled through universities. India should completely ignore these rules and fix its problems, not the least of which is the yearly phenomenon of smoke cover over Delhi.

The Delhi metropolitan area has one of the highest agglomerations of population in the world, and suffocating the people of the area on an annual basis should be treated as a crime against humanity, especially when the cause for such suffocation can be easily controlled. Although smoke from fields remaining within Punjab is also a problem that needs to be addressed, it is not as severe a problem as in Delhi, as the smoke in Punjab would be spread over a larger area with a much lower population density. For now, a step that should be taken immediately in order to prevent Delhi from becoming a gas chamber for several days every November, is to revoke what should rightfully be called the Monsanto Profit Act of 2009 and permit farmers to sow their rice crop whenever they deem it fit to do so.

Luxury fashion retailer Hugo Boss said it has found cases of forced labour, a form of modern slavery, in its supply chain. Young female workers have been held captive behind the walls of garment factories in southern India and prevented from leaving the premises at any time.

Hugo Boss, which raised concerns about the free movement of resident mill workers in its 2016 sustainability report, said it has been working to resolve the issue with local suppliers.

Following the report, a Guardian investigation into the confinement of thousands of young migrant workers on factory premises in Tamil Nadu found that Best Corporation, the company used by Hugo Boss, also supplies garments to high-street brands including Next and Mothercare.

“Hugo Boss has been in regular contact and intensive exchange with the body-wear supplier to work on changes together and to achieve improvements in the mentioned areas,” the company said in a statement.

Best Corporation is not the only company in southern India where issues relating to worker confinement exist. The policy of housing large numbers of young female migrant workers in dormitories on factory premises is widespread in the region.

Factory owners say the policy is necessary to ensure worker safety in largely rural areas. But young women are effectively imprisoned in their workplace and allowed minimal contact with the outside world for up to four years.

A recent survey of 743 spinning mills across the region, carried out by the India Committee of the Netherlands, a human rights organisation dedicated to improving the lives of marginalised people in south Asia, found more than half of the mills were illegally restricting the free movement of resident workers.

“Mill owners usually defend themselves on the pretext of protecting the girls from abuse far away from home, but locking young women up for years at a time is not the answer,” said Gerard Oonk, the organisation’s director.

The Guardian found evidence of worker confinement at premises belonging to Sulochana cotton mills, which supplies Primark, and Sri Shanmugavel mills, which feed into Primark and Debenhams’ supply chains.

On visits to spinning mills located in rural areas around Tirupur, Palladam and Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, the Guardian spoke to workers who confirmed that young female workers were not allowed to leave the factory of their own free will at any time, except on rare trips to local markets accompanied by factory security.

One young woman who works at a Best Corporation mill spoke to the Guardian while her factory chaperone was distracted. “We are not allowed to leave the factory without wardens or whenever we want to. I work, when I am told to. I don’t complain. My family needs the money for my wedding dowry,” she said.

According to multiple interviews with workers in factories belonging to Sri Shanmugavel mills, young women living at the factories are either not allowed mobile phones, or have their calls monitored by factory supervisors.

“I work next to these girls daily. We are not allowed to talk with them at all, neither during work or in breaks,” said one male worker employed by Sri Shanmugavel. “Sometimes we use sign language. Off work they almost never come out of the hostel. Only together with guards or parents.”

Local organisations said they are not allowed to check on the working or living conditions of young female workers housed at spinning mills and face intimidation and threats from factory owners.

Best Corporation acknowledged that it restricts workers’ freedom of movement outside the factory premises, because of the rural location of many of its factories. It said it has taken steps to address worker grievances, including establishing a worker committee, inviting local NGOs to train supervisors on workers’ rights, and funding an independently run telephone helpline for workers.

The UN special rapporteur on contemporary slavery, Urmila Bhoola, said restricting the movement of female workers had serious consequences.

“One must understand that restricting the young women workers’ movements increases their vulnerability immensely, unless other measures are taken,” said Bhoola. “They are vulnerable upon recruitment and kept in vulnerability during employment. They are also vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of abuse by male employees overseeing their activities during their trips outside the hostels and also at the workplace.”

“Restraining or confining workers to not leave mill premises of their own free will – and, when it happens, then never allowing them to move freely outside without company guarding – is clearly in conflict with Indian legislation,” said R Rochin Chandra, a legal expert and director of the Centre for Criminology and Public Policy, a research centre based in Rajasthan.

Mothercare said it has been prioritising issues of freedom of movement since 2014 and that significant progress has been made at Best Corporation.

“We have had positive response from workers and seen a significant improvement over time,” said Amy Whidburn, Mothercare’s global head of corporate responsibility.

Debenhams said it was looking into the allegations.

“Respecting human rights is fundamental to Debenhams’ ethics and integrity and forms part of our code of conduct, which all suppliers must adhere to. We take these allegations very seriously and are working … to ensure these issues are fully investigated and immediately remediated.”

Southern India is an exceptionally challenging and sensitive environment when it comes to improving workers’ rights

Martin Buttle, Ethical Trading Initiative

Next denied that problems of worker confinement existed in its supply chain.

“At no point in any of the 10 audits that Next has undertaken of Best Corporation over the past seven years has there been found to be any evidence of significant adverse impact on workers’ human rights, child labour … or any other major non-compliance.”

Primark, which the Guardian linked to Sulochana cotton spinning mills through export databases, refused to confirm or deny that Best Corporation is part of its supply chain, but said the company accepted it had a responsibility to improve employment conditions in southern India. “We are aware that the sector in this region has issues, which we are seeking to improve in accordance with the UN’s guiding principles that encourage companies to work for improvement through collaboration, which is necessary given [that] mills supply many brands.”

Tamil Nadu’s spinning mills, which feed into India’s booming export garment sector, have long been the subject of allegations of serious labour abuses, including the practice of Sumangali, where wages are withheld from lower caste and Dalit workers for years at a time.

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) said international retail brands had to find more effective ways of using their influence to eradicate the potential for labour abuses in the region.

“Southern India is an exceptionally challenging and sensitive environment when it comes to improving workers’ rights, particularly the rights of young women workers,” said Martin Buttle, category leader for apparel and textiles at ETI. “We recognise that poor conditions and restrictions on freedom of movement exist in mill-owned hostels, and a lot still needs to be done.”

Fans claiming that I am trying to appropriate a beloved icon like Bhikhari Thakur, using him for my own journey of ‘respectability’ has left me appalled.

In the wake of the recent social media slander campaign against me — being run by a few good men who proclaim themselves the custodians of Bhojpuri language — it seems befitting that I offer a rebuttal to those vicious claims, and make my stand clear, once and for all. No doubt, it is easy to get swayed by what a few good men are saying, for a lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

But here I am, begging for your kind attention, so lend me your ears and listen to my side of the story before you jump to a conclusion and join the hate bandwagon against me.

And believe my words because they are not hearsay, because you have heard me say them.

Ours is a patriarchal society, and this episode only proves it at point-blank range. What else would explain conscientious young and old Bhojpuri-speaking men ganging up against a woman artist just to make others believe that they are right and she is wrong?

If you pay attention to their statements without a chauvinistic prism, you will see the ugly face of all that I am being subjected to, unknowingly and often. These men, the so-called filmmakers, singers, musicians, writers, et al, have been trying hard to make me look ignoble, rubbishing my hard work — my dedication, of more than 16 years for this language that I call my own — at one fell swoop, because they have decided to let it all go down the drain.

They go on to claim that I have degraded Bhojpuri songs with my rendering of lewd lyrics. But here I will just say, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” I was born in Assam, but I gained a foothold in the Bhojpuri film industry with songs such as “Saiya ji dilwa mangile gamchha bichhai ke (on a bedsheet, he asks for my heart)”, and I plead not guilty to the charge levelled against me that a singer alone can denigrate the language.

For me, a song is a song. Alas, I leave it to the few good men to decide what is vulgar and what is not. They have better judgment when it comes to such matters: after all, they are honourable men. But the responsibility for the vulgarity prevalent in Bhojpuri songs needs to be shared by those who penned such songs, those who listened to them and loved them, and those who have suddenly taken a stand, demarcating sanskaari (virtuous) from ashleel (vulgar) using their trusted wisdom, and all those who have been a party to it.

What explains their judgment on good, bad or ugly? Such songs climbed the popularity charts because people chose to listen to them. By calling them vulgar, the gang of a few good men has belittled my singing, to which I gave my heart and soul; instead of blaming the lyricist, this gang has been training its guns on me.

‘I am exploring my creative side and can sing in 30 languages — Bhojpuri is one of them.’

Why did the gang choose to single me out?

Male singers, lyricists, actors, producers, directors, and others are mostly left out of the conversation when it comes to talking about the malaise plaguing the Bhojpuri music and film industry.

Why is there no outrage against their invaluable contribution in denigrating it? It makes me wonder as if I am singlehandedly responsible for all the wrong here. That’s an unfair deal. I can’t be singularly credited with this honour. I would much rather share it with many others, including the present-day staunch critics of the songs.

The hatred campaign has been erupting at sporadic intervals. It is mostly timed to clash with occasions when I try to better my good with the best, be it the Chhath video that became popular as it highlighted the age-old tradition among some Muslim families who fast to pay obeisance to the Sun God or being invited by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, a national institution, to grace the programme commemorating the birth anniversary of Bihar’s famous litterateur Bhikhari Thakur in Qutubpur.

Does my popularity make the gang wary? What explains their nervous huddle, which made them hurl slurs at me? I have always tried to outdo myself, and in some measure, I think it is the reason for their discomfort.

Some Bhojpuri music fans claiming that I am trying to appropriate a beloved icon like Bhikhari Thakur, using him for my own journey of “respectability” has left me appalled. I feel victimised, oppressed because of my gender. I haven’t lost my respectability, so there’s no point of earning it now. I was born into a musically-inclined family in Assam. I have earned my music lessons from Bhatkhande Music Institute in Lucknow and have a BA in English Literature from Cotton College, Guwahati. I am exploring my creative side and can sing in 30 languages — Bhojpuri is one of them.

I take the liberty to say that I have taken refuge in Bhikhari Thakur’s works; for me, it is akin to a pilgrimage, and if you think it is for purging my sins, so be it. I accept it without qualms. My rendering of his works is an integral part of my identity and I take immense pride in it.

Neither am I belittling the work of academicians and research scholars on the legendary artist, nor am I here to establish myself as the sole custodian of his legacy. I am proud that I have been able to make a frugal contribution as an artist to popularise Bhikhari Thakur’s works and take them to national and regional fora.

‘Every time I try to surge ahead, the shadow of such songs looms large on my artistic achievements — it leaves me saddened.’

I might sound audacious when I say, “You may love me, you may hate me, but you certainly can’t ignore me or my work.”

The few good men slandering me are attributing a handful of double-meaning songs to making me the reigning queen of Bhojpuri songs, so let me set the record straight. The first song that catapulted me from oblivion to stardom was a bhajan: “Na humse bhangwa pisaiy ae Ganes ke papa”; it made me an overnight star, and a slew of such devotional numbers followed. Women in the rural pockets of Bihar still remember me for my bhajans.

It is pertinent to illustrate the subtle difference in what is “vulgarity” in songs. For example, “Chadhal jawani chadhal jawani rasagulla” in Bhojpuri will transform into a more sophisticated version when it comes to Bollywood as “Sheila Ki Jawani”, both songs have been beautifully sung, but the nuanced approach of language and its restraint makes the song vulgar or pleasant for a different set of audience; it is situational.

The songs that I am being credited with having sung to create a so-called vulgar image were conceived by those well-versed with the Bhojpur belt; I didn’t bring them here from my native land, Assam. I sang such songs in the early years of my career without realising the words were double-meaning, and I regret it. That’s my past. Every time I try to surge ahead, the shadow of such songs looms large on my artistic achievements — it leaves me saddened.

It is a deliberate attempt by a few good men to pull me back, to intimidate me, and I will fight it with all my might.

I am doing a lot of work, but that is rarely talked about by most of the few good men. I am doing my bit in reviving Bhojpuri music as much as others who care for the genre. As a child, my mother used to gift me a pen on my birthday. Back then, I failed to understand its importance, today I have used the same pen to rebut false claims and clear the air on why I am living the legacy of the venerated Bhikhari Thakur.

If I have brought discredit to Bhojpuri songs, give me a chance to redeem myself. Why is that opportunity being snatched from me? Does my attempt to resurrect the Bhojpuri language with my small endeavours serve the interests of a few good men? I took Bhojpuri to MTV Coke Studio, but I am not willing to rest on my laurels. I am out on the journey to give the language its due, and every word of criticism only makes my resolve to work for its betterment stronger. A few good men can’t stop me midway.

Like actions speak louder than the word, I would let my work do the talking. Good, bad, ugly, I don’t leave it for a few good men to decide. Yeh public hai, yeh sab janti hai. So I let the matter rest in the court of the aam janta. The power to judge me rests with the people.

Let them pronounce me guilty or exonerate me of all such ludicrous charges. It is their call.

Every era must see its representatives reinterpret the pioneers of the past, while espousing the spirit of the Indian Constitution.

ANGSHUKANTA CHAKRABORTY

Firebrand and young Dalit leader, Jignesh Mevani, who won the Assembly seat from Vadgam in Gujarat in a landslide, addressed a press conference at the Delhi Press Club earlier today, January 5. While Mevani mostly clarified his position on the Bhima Koregaon episode, the initial violence allegedly engineered by members of the Sangh Parivar, and the resulting protests by Dalits, that spread far and wide in Maharashtra, saying he said “nothing inflammatory”, he also said that “differing from Ambedkar” on certain matters is all right since “words aren’t cast in stone”, to quote the chief drafter of the Indian Constitution himself.

Mevani, in an intelligent and impassioned open-to-all press conference, therefore ensured that while his advocacy of non-violent protests against the BJP government in the Centre and in the state of Maharashtra, owing to the party’s direct connection with the Sangh and its Hindutva ideology of whitewashing caste, is understood, that he’d carve out his own path in his political journey is equally conveyed. By daring to differ from Ambedkar, publicly and spiritedly, despite calling for “annihilation of caste” and a “solidarity” of Dalits, women, minorities, seculars, youths, students, farmers, small traders, among others, Mevani showed that he had the intellectual acumen to take nuanced positions, that are not about following an icon, no matter how revered, with blind faith.

While Mevani called for an anti-BJP coalition, he also asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who calls himself an Ambedkarite, and makes frequent visits to inaugurate new Ambedkar statues, has been silent on the Bhima Koregaon agitation. That’s a legitimate question, since Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has not managed to have Mumbai Police arrest the two Hindutva leaders – Manohar Bhide and Milind Ekbote – who were behind the desecration of the Gopal Gaikwad statue in a village near Bhima Koregaon, knowing well that the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon was about to be commemorated by Dalits and others in a matter of days. Ironically, Bhide is slated to give speeches in Pune “clarifying his stance”, while cops have been hounding students and Dalit agitators for refusing to accept the caste-driven humiliation and violence anymore.

Mevani’s frank rallying call for unity among the oppressed is very much an Ambedkarite strategy of seeking broad-based alliances against caste system. While Ambedkar’s ploy was to use the British rule to strike a blow at the heart of caste system that had/has plagued the diverse and variously exploited the “lesser” Hindus through millennia, what he didn’t foresee was the rise of Hindutva to the very top of postcolonial India’s official power ladder. Hence, Ambedkar’s relative naiveté in not seeing the need to literally insert the word “secular” in the Preamble of the Constitution that he led the drafting of. His confidence that secularism was self-evident and manifest in every Article and section of the Constitution, and didn’t need a reiteration, was a technically correct but politically innocent choice, in hindsight.

Hence, Mevani’s call of solidarity and confident admission that he’d differ from existing icons of the Dalit movements across time, whether it’s Ambedkar, or Kanshiram, or Mayawati, must be understood in this context. The Bhima-Koregaon protests showed that Dalit self-assertion is now mainstream, despite the overt attempts by the government of the day and its ideological state apparatus in most of the TV media to browbeat Mevani and his supporters seeking justice for the Sangh-manufactured violence and telegenic “controversy”. Mevani’s conversation with Delhi media, however, is also a signal that he’d not be tamed, as it were, and would talk back as many times as required.

An important aspect of Mevani’s speech was the solidarity that he sought out against caste system as a whole, which is raising its many Hydra heads, evolving with time as well. Hence, the chief mode through which caste system is perpetuated is by denial of its history of violent oppression, saying that it was the “invaders” who gave the caste a bad name. Yet, the revolt against discrimination that wore the face of Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University, or Chandrashekhar Azad Raavan in Saharanpur, or Jignesh Mevani in Una and beyond, has seen violent backlash from the state itself, now officially Sangh-driven.

What Mevani is essentially facing is a state that acts like a colonial power high on Manuvaad, or the ideology of Manu. This is a different scenario from what Ambedkar faced, because not only is the state exclusionary and exploitative to the core – it’s bringing in a law that would criminalise Muslim men for saying something that doesn’t have any legal standing – but even within its “unified Hindu India” vision, it’s attaching the terms and conditions of the foulest caste rigidities that Ambedkar fought his whole life against. If Ambedkar were alive today, the government might have arrested him on charges of sedition, like it did the students of JNU who spoke of Ambedkarite philosophies, and not merely spew his name as a blunt political instrument.

Ambedkar’s strong opposition to Gandhi’s idea of “Harijans”, on which Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan” is ideologically premised, was a past rejection of exactly this form of appropriation of the Dalit anger, and consequent negation of the history of violence against them in the postcolonial present. While Ambedkar encouraged Dalits to leave Hinduism and convert, Mevani’s answer is new Dalit self-assertion, fearless and confident.

Those branding Mevani and Umar Khalid as part of the “Tukde Tukde Gang”, embody the very caste-class edifice that Mevani wishes to bring down. Any challenge to the ruling caste-class combine is perceived as “breaking India”, branded as seditious, a matter of national security. Mevani’s Delhi press conference is anything but that.

Whether it’s gender solidarity, or Dalit assertion, or the pride marches of LGBTQ peoples, or farmers demanding justice, trade unions taking out processions for workers’ rights, this is the coalition of the peoples, alienated like never before by the current government of India, that Mevani truly represents. Mevani’s answers and comments, made in halting, Gujarati-accented English, are about the rise and rise of a new grounds-up leadership, welded in the furnace of India’s many mini revolutions, happening as we speak, whether we see them on TV or not. It’s the parliament of the people that has found its voice, something Ambedkar would have wholeheartedly approved of.

Organ transplant in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994.

In India, organs can be harvested and transplated from dead bodies of donors who had consented in their lifetime or their close relatives have consented after their death. Organs can be donated by living people under specific conditions – that the person is a close relative or is brain dead and so on.

Selling of organs for donation is illegal.

However, given how important it can be to obtain an organ for one who needs it to survive, as well as the widespread poverty and desperation in the country, it is not surprising that there are rackets involving unscrupulous doctors and hospitals where sales of organs from strangers result in transplants. With own life at stake, it is not surprising that people needing donation and who can afford the money are often tempted to purchase organs illegally in order to survive.

Needless to say, this is risky business for doctors and hospitals as they would be liable to be arrested and their licences revoked and the widespread need of health services in India makes taking such risks to obtain money unnecessary.

His friend, K Babu, then tried to arrange a kidney for him through a donor who would be willing to donate the organ at the hospital, some 230 kilometres from Hyderabad. The hospital has no other branch, police said.

A fake Aadhaar card was made in the name of a purportedly fictitious person Ravuri Ravi with the photo of a real tribal man, Madavath Venkat Naik, who was reportedly identified as a donor, police said.

Mr Naik is said to have agreed to donate his kidney for Rs. 4 lakh.

Since the hospital insisted that only a person from the family or a relative is eligible to donate a kidney, an application with Mr Naik’s details but in the name of Ravuri Ravi was created — to show him as a person of the Kamma or Chaudhury caste — just as the patient Sivanagamalleswar Rao is.

Police said they are investigating how the local revenue officer issued a certificate to vouch for the donor’s background based on an application that the donor had given to him. They said it is not known yet whether more such cases of kidney sale have happened, which would mean it is a big racket, as it could be possible this was one of many ‘transactions’ that failed.

Cases of forgery and cheating have been filed. “We are looking for Ravi, if he exists at all, and Madavath Venkat Naik, to get to the bottom of the case,” Narsaraopet senior police officer Nageswar told NDTV.

Journalist Gauri Lankesh ‘s family grieve during her funeral, in Bengaluru on September 6, 2017. Lankesh was shot in cold blood outside her home by unknown assailants. (PTI Photo)

The special investigation team probing the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh has been unable to compare the cartridges recovered from the crime scene amid a dispute among three forensics laboratories over the analysis of cases recovered from the scenes of three other high-profile killings.

Lankesh was gunned down outside her house in the city by unidentified assassins on September 5 and the police are yet to crack the case. Over the past four months, the state government and the SIT have come under increasing pressure to ensure that the case is solved soon.

The local forensic science lab had confirmed in September that the bullets that killed Lankesh were fired from a 7.65mm country-made pistol.

The modus operandi in the killing of Lankesh bears a striking resemblance to those of Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi, rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and communist leader Govind Pansare but, the inability to compare the cartridges has meant that there is no conclusive evidence to prove that there is a link to the other murders.

Dabholkar was shot dead near his home in Shaniwar Peth in 2013, Pansare died of wounds after being shot in 2015, and Kalburgi was killed by a hail of bullets in Dharwad in 2015.

The dispute between the forensic sciences labs (FSLs) of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad over the analysis reports of cartridges recovered from their murder scenes has delayed the handing over of the cartridges.

In 2015, the forensic analysis of cartridges recovered from the scenes of the murder of Kalburgi, Dabholkar and Pansare provided evidence that the same group might have been involved in the crimes. This was disputed by the Mumbai FSL.

“The Bengaluru FSL has photographs of the cartridges found from the scene of the murder of Kalburgi, but we need the actual cartridge to conduct a 360-degree analysis because only that will be permissible as evidence,” an officer said.

So far, the SIT has hit a dead-end in its investigation on multiple fronts. It had gathered closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of a reconnaissance conducted by two people riding two-wheelers, but these did not have any numbers on the plates.

“There were around 13,000 bikes of that model in Karnataka, of these we have been unable to trace around 500,” the officer said.

Footage taken from a camera installed above Lankesh’s door, which captured the crime, too, has yielded little.

“We know, for example, that the killer was a trained professional because he appears in the footage for a total of five seconds. Within two seconds he fires four bullets at Lankesh and in another two seconds he flees the spot,” the officer said.

The officer said in this footage the model of the two-wheeler used was not clear. Besides, he said, the trail of CCTV footage runs cold after about 200 metres. Sketches released of the suspects, corroborated with eyewitness accounts, have also not provided a breakthrough, the officer said.

In addition to this, the SIT received call data dump with around 70 million calls made over a five-day period between September 1 and 5.

“We have so far analysed around 20 million calls but it is unlikely that the perpetrators would have switched on their phones while conducting reconnaissance or while committing the crime,” the officer said.

The SIT had also probed illegal arms dealers in the state. This, too, has yielded little information.

“We have to now go back to older forms of policing,” the officer said.

“About 99% of the cases now are solved because of digital data, be it call records, cell tower data or CCTV footage. In this case, these avenues have provided little,” the officer added.

The SIT is hoping for a quick resolution of the dispute between the forensics labs so that it can get the cartridges to conduct an analysis soon.

I met AshwathamaAt Mama Kane’s Swacha UphargrihaHe says Bhai, the times are badThe Bharamastra fell in Vidharbha12 years of famine in the region

In his horse-voice, he describes the suicidesCan I get food grains, sugar, kerosene for my people?How, I ask, as he gobbles a kothambir wadeWith his piyush. He says, it can be done through the Antyodaya

Irritating habit this, I say, of lapsing into SanskritSo, he explains he needs a ration cardSomething for the poorest of the poorCome, I say, as we get into a taxi in the sun

Ashwathama and I reach the Talati OfficeWe want a form which I can fill upThe clerk says go to the civil supplier’s officeQuite uncivil; he provides a list of documents

Ashwathama says, I don’t have an address proofWhat about an electricity bill or voter id, I askOr a contract with the landlord, or last month’s pay slipOr a marriage certificate, or SSC marksheet

He replies, none of the above, oh bhaiEver since Lord Krishna cursed meI have no hospitality nor accommodationI live in isolation from mankind and society

We meet Kalki the agent in Masjid BunderKalki says, don’t worry-ji, this is KaliyugEverything can be managed, easilyGet me a Rs 5 stamp and three passport-sized photographs

Ashwathama says, I have nothing, I am shoonyaA cursed body which hosts of incurable diseasesInfinite sores and ulcers that never-ever healAnd this eternal face that refuses to smile

Kalki says, All will be balle balleThe Talati Officer will visit your homeWithin a month for verificationI’ve no home for such type of a visit

Umadevi Kalburgi, wife of professor MM Kalburgi, who was killed in August 2015 by unknown assailants, has approached the Supreme Court demanding an independent team under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge to conduct an investigation into his murder. Her writ petition states that there is no coordination between the four investigating agencies that are currently handling the case. The petition is scheduled to be heard on January 10 by the Chief Justice of India justice Dipak Mishra. Umadevi’s petition is the first one to be filed before the Supreme Court in the matter of the Kannada writer and rationalist’s murder.

The murder is being investigated by Karnataka CID, National Investigating Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Maharashtra Police. There has been no progress in the investigation till date.

Kalburgi’s murder was preceded by another murder, that of rationalist Govind Pansare, in Kolhapur, on February 16, 2015. Pansare, who was shot at while he was out on his morning walk, died on February 20. His murder is investigated by a special team headed by an additional director general of police. Two years before Kalburgi’s and Pansare’s murders, anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013. The investigation into the murder was transferred to the CBI under the supervision of the Bombay High Court, after Dabholkar’s and Pansare’s families expressed their dissatisfaction at the progress of the investigation conducted by the Maharashtra Police.

Umadevi’s petition, which was drafted by Advocate Abhay Nevagi, states that, “During the hearing of the above petition, the link between murders of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi was established beyond doubt. It appears that two weapons were used in all the three murders. There has been a serious lapse in apprehending any culprits or even persons who may lead investigators to the culprits.” (The CBI has arrested and filed a charge sheet against Sanantan Sanstha member Dr Virendra Tawde in the Dabholkar murder case, and he has been also charge sheeted in the Pansare murder case.)

In its prayer, it demands the appointment of “a dedicated special investigation team led by the ADG of Police, Karnataka, and comprising of expert officers of impeccable credentials… The direction also should include reporting to the SC and no change in the team without permission of the SC.”

The petition also requests the court to “direct the State of Maharashtra and the State of Goa to nominate particular police officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police as a nodal officer to provide all support and information to the special investigating team constituted as per the prayers. (And) Seek immediate reports from all the respondent states involved and especially from the NIA, along with reports from State of Maharashtra and CBI.”

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Abhishek Baxi, editor, AndroidAuthority.com said he had a baby in November but the Gurugrammunicipal authorities have so far refused to issue a birth certificate without first enrolling the baby for Aadhaar.

“I filed RTIs and in response I got letters from the offices of Haryana CM Manohar Lal and Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to the local body that asks for enrollment for Aadhaar, but nowhere does it mention that it is mandatory for birth certificate,” he said.

In May 2017 Haryana started making babies enrol in Aadhaar before it will issue them birth certificates. Even though the state government denies that the identity number is mandatory to obtain this document, officials on the ground admit that it virtually is.

Menaka Rao

Seven hours after Pankaj Tiwari’s daughter was born in the Civil Hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram district, the employee of a private firm held her up in front of a camera to enrol her in the Aadhaar database.

Hospital administrators had told Tiwari that he would not be able to register the girl’s birth and get her birth certificate unless he had obtained a 12-digit government-isssued unique identity number for her. This despite the fact that in October 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Universal Identification Document, commonly known as Aadhaar, could not be made mandatory for any government programmes.

On the ground, though, Haryana officials insist on Aadhaar registration for newborns before processing birth certificates. “An advisory was issued to various authorities to ensure that people register births and link it with Aadhar,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, additional chief secretary of Haryana. “We have managed to register about 90% of the births this month [April]. In the next two months, we aim to complete 100% Aadhaar-linked birth registration”

Tiwari did not have to go very far to get to register his daughter for Aadhaar: the Haryana government has opened enrolment facilities in all the state’s district hospitals.

In addition, select community health centres and primary health centres have the facilities to provide Aadhaar registration on their premises. Private hospitals have also been asked to contact local authorities to ensure Aadhar registration immediately after birth. The programme has been rapidly scaled up since it started in 2015 in a primary health centre in Tigaon in Faridabad district as a pilot project.

There is an Aadhaar centre in Gurugram District Hospital to facilitate Aadhaar linked birth registration

Dr Parveen Garg, director-general of health services in Haryana, admitted that the authorities tell people that Aadhaar registration is mandatory to obtain a birth certificate. “Then people will cooperate with us,” he said.

Additional chief secretary Gupta said that when Haryana began linking birth registration with Aadhaar in May 2015, it only intended to update the state’s own digital records. However, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar then declared that the state records should be incorporated into country-wide records of birth maintained by the Registrar General of India.

“The IT Minister [Ravi Shankar Prasad] intervened and asked the Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI and Registrar General of India to integrate the Aadhaar data with the birth records,” said Gupta, adding that the central government has asked all state government to follow Haryana’s example.

Enrolling parents to register children

Though collecting iris scans and fingerprints is a key part of the biometrically-linked Aadhaar programme, this cannot be done for children: the fingerprints of newborns are too unclear to be recorded. As a result, children are registered for Aadhaar with the biometric data of one of their parents, along with this adult’s Aadhaar number. The biometric data needs to be uploaded when the child is five years old.

“If the parents do not have Aadhaar, we get their Aadhaar made first,” said Jagmohan, the operator at the Gurugram Civil Hospital. “You see, it is compulsory for the birth certificate.”

In the past six months in Gurugram, Aadhaar registrations at birth have been carried out in campaign mode at the Civil Hospital and in every private hospital.

“For the past six months, we have been providing this service at each centre of birth,” said Dr Ashish Singla, who handles birth registration for the Gurugram Municipal Corporation.

At the Gurugram Civil Hospital, 400-450 babies are born each month. Between January and April, 142,079 births registered in Haryana have been linked to Aadhaar. Only 4,489 births in this period were not linked to Aadhaar.

The Haryana government official said that the government has distributedelectronic tablets to help data operators work more efficiently. If a child is born in a sub-centre that does not have an Aadhaar registration facility, the parents ofthe child are referred or sent to an Atal Seva Kendra, which is a common service centre that provides a number of government digital services including birth registration and death registration.

Private hospitals in Gurugram district have Aadhaar operators who can be contacted whenever there is a new birth. These operators are not government officials but private agents certified by the UIDAI.

Some private hospitals, like the maternity home The Cradle in Gurugram, have one of their own employees function as their Aadhaar operator. “Sometimes parents have a problem with using flash to click the child’s photo,” said Amit Raghav, The Cradle’s Aadhaar operator. “Doctors tell them not to use flash to take their photos. But in this app the flash comes on automatically. I cannot help it.”

Recording accurate sex ratio

Garg said that having Aadhaar-linked birth registration would help authorities digitise birth records and ensure that there is no duplication. This system, he said, will provide good data for the State Population Register.

The other advantage, he said, is that it will enable right calculation of sex ratio at birth at various levels. After the Census 2011 showed a sex ratio of 834 girls for every 1,000 boys, the state has been working hard on trying to improve the sex ratio by cracking down on ultrasound clinics. The state authorities now claim that the sex ratio has hit 950 girls for every thousand boys.

Garg said that the government also wants to scale up a pilot project launched in Panipat to calculate sex ratios at the village level.

Until Aadhaar was introduced, different Haryana departments had been collecting data in various ways. For instance, a child’s name would be registered at birth where the mother delivers. This would often not be at the mother’s village but in the village where the mother’s parents lived. Meanwhile, the child would also be registered at the mother’s village at the anganwadi where her nutrition levels are tracked.

“Earlier multiple agencies were collecting data in silos,” said an official from the health department. “This [linking of Aadhaar with birth registration] is part of creating a digital Haryana.”

Happy parents

Haryana’s programme has been proceeding despite the Supreme Court order in October 2015 noting that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for any government scheme. Despite this, in February and March, the central government made Aadhaar mandatory for more than 20 central government schemes, including the Midday Meal Programme. However, many parents in Gurugram do not seem to be concerned about the court ruling and said that, since the government’s announcements, they feel that the facility of getting Aadhaar enrolment for their children in the hospital itself saves time and effort

“These days we need Aadhaar for everything,” said Tiwari. “It is better to get it made here than go to a centre later.”

Jayashree, who had brought her two-month-old child to Gurugram Civil Hospital to get her Aadhaar made, echoed Tiwari’s view. She had delivered the child at the Employees State Insurance Corporation Hospital, which did not have the Aadhaar facility.

Rajesh Kumar was told by hospital authorities to bring his Aadhaar card to register for his child’s Aadhaar. “I am happy with the facility,” said Kumar, who works as a security guard in Gurugram. “My elder daughter who is two years still does not have a Aadhaar card.”

Jayashree with her two month old child at the Gurugram Civil Hospital to register her child under Aadhaar

However, one parent pointed out practical problems of registering Aadhaar at birth.

Prashant Guha, whose girl child was delivered at a Jain Hospital, a private hospital in Gurugram, said that though he is happy with the government’s initiative, hdid have some problems with the scheme. “Her name is not recorded as we have not given her a name yet,” he said. “We may have to go again to the authorities to get it done. It would have been better if we were saved an additional trip to the corporation.”

There are other concerns too. Writing earlier in Scroll.in, Kritika Bhardwaj, who works as a programme officer with the Centre for Communication Governance at the National Law University in Delhi, questioned the practicality of registering children in Aadhaar and the limitations in capturing images of newborn children, since with the absence of distinguishing features renders the photographs useless.

The question of consent

Bharadwaj also raised the question of whether it is ethical to enrol children who are too young to give their consent to be included in a biometrics database,especially when the programme does not allow them to opt out of the database at a later stage.

Guha, who works as a human resource manager in a company in Gurugram, was not concerned about this. “At most they will have the vague address and basic details about the child,” he said. “If this document helps identify my child as existing as per the Government of India, it helps.”

Legal researcher Usha Ramanathan said that parents seem to have no idea what they are consenting to. “People need to know what kind of personal data is going to be collected and what implications is it going to have over a period of time,” she said.

One health insurer apparently told her that she could not avail of cashless treatment as she did not have an Aadhaar card

CHENNAI: From hospital treatment to birth certificates, agencies are insisting on the production of Aadhaar cards despite the government extending the deadline till March 31.

On Thursday night, Chennai resident Jayashree faced hurdles in getting cashless treatment at Fortis Malar. Health insurer Cigna TTK Health Insurance apparently told her that she could not avail of cashless treatment as she did not have an Aadhaar card. Her case created a Twitter storm — with more than 1,300 retweets — and well known figures like Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nandy and others stepped in to say that the insurer was leaving itself open to civil and criminal litigation as services could not be denied in view of the March 31extension agreed to in the Supreme Court by the government.

igna TTK processed the claim late on Thursday night. The company’s CEO, Sandeep Patel, said on Friday, “We were following procedural requirements for mandatory updation of Aadhaar card details. From March 31, 2018, we will not be able to process any claims without Aadhaar. I think there was some miscommunication. The issue has now been resolved.”

But there are other policyholders like N Rajkumar of Bengaluru who allege that their insurance firms have refused to process their claims if Aadhaar details were not provided. “I had to make multiple calls before they accepted my claim for reimbursement. Aadhaar is becoming an instrument to deny services and rights,” Rajkumar said.

“Linking Aadhaar to highvalue real estate transactions, corporate NPA accounts and funding for political parties would be a real gamechanger. Instead, the government is making things difficult for the common man by asking for Aadhaar proof for a Rs 50 SIM cards or a Rs 750 LPG connection,” said Gopal Krishnan, activist, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/no-aadhaar-no-cashless-treatment-woman-told/articleshow/62389807.cms